Black and White Snapshots, 1958
Let's hear it for the humble black and white snapshot. Inexpensive and easy to print, they were produced by the gazillions. My mom would let my brother and me take as many photos as we wanted with our Instamatic cameras - as long as we had black and white film. And while I do love me some Kodachrome color, there is room in my heart for these, too.
Thanks to a hand-written date on the back I know that both of the photos were taken on June 29th, 1958. "Jason's Disneyland Almanac" tells us that this was a Sunday; the park was open from 9 AM until midnight, and the high temperature was 79ยบ. In spite of it being the middle of the summer, attendance was a mere 19, 587.
The ol' Chicken of the Sea pirate ship looks splendid (as seen from the Skyway), even in shades of gray. The sails are unfurled, always a bonus.
Another Skyway photo shows the Viewliner just as it has pulled away from the Tomorrowland station. In the upper left is Holiday Hill (or Snow Hill, I never know what to call that thing), with trails aplenty for amorous couples.
8 comments:
Major-
Hooray for monochrome. So lonely on these pages. This way I can imagine the sails on the Chicken of the Sea pirate ship as being purple, with pink stripes. That's so much better.
Thanks, Major.
I really like the snapshot with the Viewliner traveling round the curve as it heads into the Tomorrowland Viewliner Station. It's a nice unusual angle I don't think I've seen before. Thanks, Major.
Yes, I'd say the Chicken of the Sea Pirate Ship looks great in either format. These pics are making me realize that out of all the black and white family photos I have, there aren't any of Disneyland. And I believe I only have about three black and white pics taken at Knott's.
Now you're talking. Wish my parents would have given us Instamatics back then. That shot of the pirate ship is similar to the one in a recent 'Unrejected Rejects' post. Really nice.
3 years before I was born. It looks so sparse outside the berm. Sherman, set the wayback machine for 1958.
Nanook, hm, the purple and pink sounds very Cheshire Cat, so I will allow it.
K. Martinez, you are right, the Viewliner is pulling IN to the station, not away from it. Will I fix the text? Probably not.
TokyoMagic!, I don’t even have any Knott’s photos, so you’re ahead of me…
DrGoat, I know the one you mean! I think that a lot of people took photos of the Pirate Ship from the Skyway, it was kind of hard to ignore.
MRaymond, imagine what it would have been like to drive around Anaheim, away from the park. Lots of farms and open land, with maybe some housing tracts and of course the actual city, wherever that was at the time.
Splendid shots, Major. That looks like the red Viewliner but B&W darkness can vary so much with various types of film.
A different world for sure.
Anaheim used to be pretty nice.
Thanks so much Major
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